Biographical Sketch: John Henry George Hasek, né Jan
Jaroslav
Jindrich Siri Hasek, was born in Czechoslovakia on January 28th,
1938.
In 1948, Hasek escaped with his family to England, where he finished
his
early education. He then emigrated to Canada, where he began his
military career in 1957. On August 10, 1963, Hasek married Glenna
Hubble in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

During his time spent in the Canadian Forces, Hasek worked as an
instructor
at a military academy in Ghana
(1965-1967), as a peacekeeper in Cyprus
(1967-1968), a Ceasefire supervisor in South Vietnam,
and an analyst for
the Directorate of Strategic Policy Planning at the National Defence
Headquarters
(1978-1980). Throughout this time he served with the Black Watch,
the RCR, and was the first commander of the Skyhawks, an airborne
regiment.
Upon retirement from the regular forces in1981, Hasek continued to be
active
in the reserves with the Queen’s Own Rifles, worked as a consulting
psychologist
to the Halton Regional Police Force, ran in an election for School
Trustee,
and worked as a free-lance journalist.

Scholastically, Hasek attended a variety of different schools,
including
the University of Ottawa (1958-1961), where he obtained a Bachelor of
Arts
in Philosophy, and the University of New Brunswick (1965-1968), where
he
obtained a Masters Degree in Psychology. Hasek also attended
military-related
schools, including the US Army Special Warfare School (1965), where he
studied Insurgency War; The Canadian Forces Staff College
(1971-1972),
where he obtained a PFSC in a Command and Staff Course; and the Royal
Military
College of Canada, where he studied War Studies.

Hasek not only retained an interest in Czechoslovakia, but also
became
an ardent opponent of Communist totalitarianism. Consequently, Hasek
became
a founder of the Black Ribbon Campaign (an alliance against
totalitarianism),
became secretary-treasurer of the Czechoslovakian Association of
Canada,
and when the Czech government collapsed in 1990, he organised more than
one thousand volunteers to teach English in Czechoslovakia ( an
organisation,
which, after his death, was renamed the “John Hasek Society”).
This
avid interest in communist and peace-related issues, combined with an
interest
and knowledge of the military, led Hasek to write a number of different
articles on these subjects, as well as present lectures and talks for a
variety of groups and classes. He also published a book in
1987 entitled The Disarming of Canada, and created a film in
1989,
called The Seductive Illusion.

In 1993, while working out of Czechoslovakia as a free-lance
journalist
covering the war between Croatia and the former Yugoslavia, Hasek was
involved
in an accident which resulted in massive injuries. Six months
later,
on January 1st, 1994, Hasek passed away. He was survived by his
wife,
Glenna, and his two children, Anthony and Elizabeth.

Scope and Content: This fonds documents
John
Hasek’s varied and overlapping interests, beliefs, and activities,
particularly
concerning peace movements, politics, the military, and his native
Czechoslovakia.
This fonds contains many of Hasek’s articles in both rough and
published
form, as well as items relating to the articles, such as public
feedback.
The material within this fonds which involves Hasek’s book The
Disarming
of Canada, his film The Seductive Illusion, and speeches,
however,
is mostly in the form of working papers, preliminary manuscripts, and
feedback,
rather than the finished versions. Also included in this fonds are
documents
and correspondence which Hasek collected concerning the above mentioned
areas of interest.

There is also material relating to Hasek’s personal life, his work
in
the area of stress management and employee protection, his life as a
student,
his efforts in running in an election for school trustee, his work with
Youth Service, and his work as journalist in Croatia. These items are
mainly
in the form of articles and correspondence, although there is also
material
such as school records, reports, and personal records included.

Accompanying Material: There were a number of
military-related
books which were deposited with this fonds. Although these books
are not included in this fonds, they were retained at the University of
New Brunswick Archives, and the titles can be found in Appendix B of
this
finding aid.

Immediate Source of Acquisition: On October 6, 1997, the
majority
of the material in this fonds was deposited by John Hasek’s widow,
Glenna
Hasek. The exceptions to this are the 6 audio reels found in series
13. John Hasek loaned the originals to the University of New
Brunswick Archives in 1977, and they were then dubbed by the
University.
The originals were returned to Hasek, and the dubbed copies remain in
this
fonds.

Arrangement: The original state of the material necessitated
an arrangement being imposed by the archivist. Where possible,
the
files and sub-files within each series have been arranged
chronologically,
with the undated items appearing at the end of the file, or series of
sub-files.

Language: While this fonds is predominantly in English, it
contains
substantial amounts of material in Czech and in Croatian.

Related Material: The “John
Hasek
Society fonds” (MG H 183) contains documentation from “Education
for
Democracy”, an organization primarily founded by John Hasek, as well as
from the “John Hasek Society”. (“Education for Democracy” was renamed
“The
John Hasek Society” shortly after Hasek’s death).

Other: It should be noted that a great deal of material
within
this fonds is very closely related with regards to subject matter –
consequently,
it is often the case that material relevant to a particular subject can
be found in various different series. This is particularly true
of
Hasek’s writings, which can be found in series
1, as he wrote about subjects that interested him in many different
fields.